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Message no. 1
From: Gurth gurth@******.nl
Subject: Magical bullets (was Re: Problem Player)
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 19:38:43 +0100
According to Bira, on Fri, 10 Nov 2000 the word on the street was...

> > I don't like saying that PCs can't do it. If _someone_ can do it, then
> > someone else must be able to as well. You can put all kinds of obstacles in
> > their way, like requiring the PC to develop an entirely new enchanting
> > technique or making it very hard to enchant the bullets (high TN), but it
> > should be possible for the PCs as well if they really want to.
>
> The TN wouldn't be impossibly high - that's the reason for using
> these exotic materials for the bullets. But the idea of having to
> study/develop new techniques seems interesting.

It only makes sense that way -- if nobody knows how to do something, you're
going to have to do lots of research in order to find out if it's possible
at all, and if so, how to go about it. However, these days already, and I
would imagine especially in 60 years time, it is exceedingly hard for
individuals to do ground-breaking research on their own. Megacorps and
other organizations would be investing millions, if not billions, of nuyen
in developing similar technology/magic/whatever, so what makes a player
think a humble PC will develop where the corps have so far failed?

--
Gurth@******.nl - http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
And now, the weather.
-> NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

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Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 2
From: NeoJudas neojudas@******************.com
Subject: Magical bullets (was Re: Problem Player)
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 15:49:10 -0500
From: "Gurth" <gurth@******.nl>
Subject: Magical bullets (was Re: Problem Player)


> It only makes sense that way -- if nobody knows how to do something,
you're
> going to have to do lots of research in order to find out if it's possible
> at all, and if so, how to go about it. However, these days already, and I
> would imagine especially in 60 years time, it is exceedingly hard for
> individuals to do ground-breaking research on their own. Megacorps and
> other organizations would be investing millions, if not billions, of nuyen
> in developing similar technology/magic/whatever, so what makes a player
> think a humble PC will develop where the corps have so far failed?

To answer just this last question... "because it would make for an
interesting couple of games."

Okay, now granted there are some obvious issues of game balance and the like
that might come with this as well, but it could still be interesting to see
it happen. Of unusual note, we have done something of a variation of this,
but in this case it came about differently.

It seems one of the guys with an already ultra-rare/one-of-a-kind pistol who
was also a magician decided to come up with his idea of "an enchanted
bullet". In this case, he pulled some rebar from a building that was inside
the Shattergraves and literally ground/filed it down into the shape and
style of the necessary rounds for the gun he has.

They aren't "magical" per se, but due to their inherently "bad memory
nature" (can't think of another way to say it), a lot of people (and
spirits) are extremely loath to come into contact with said gun/user in
combination. We've done variations of this over the years, and indeed at
one point we did have blatantly "magical" bullets. But in the end, they
just kept breaking mechanics that had obvious places. Of course, it was
either help them with these options or have more and more players start to
bitch/moan/complain about magicians being the only effective individuals
against spirits and other "Immunity to Normal Weapons" critters (beings in
mist form for instance).

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
J. Keith Henry ("K" "NeoJudas")
Hoosier Hacker House (www.hoosierhackerhouse.com)
THREEH.COM (www.threeh.com)
Message no. 3
From: Keith Duthie psycho@*********.co.nz
Subject: Magical bullets (was Re: Problem Player)
Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 14:15:08 +1300 (NZDT)
Magic bullets:
Availability: 60/2wks
Cost: 20000¥ ea
Street Index: 10

--
Understanding is a three edged sword. Do you *want* to get the point?
http://www.albatross.co.nz/~psycho/ O- -><-
Standard disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this message are unlikely to
be mine, let alone anybody elses...
Message no. 4
From: Bira ra002585@**.unicamp.br
Subject: Magical bullets (was Re: Problem Player)
Date: Fri, 10 Nov 2000 23:50:03 GMT
> > The TN wouldn't be impossibly high - that's the reason for using
> > these exotic materials for the bullets. But the idea of having to
> > study/develop new techniques seems interesting.
>
> It only makes sense that way -- if nobody knows how to do something, you're
> going to have to do lots of research in order to find out if it's possible
> at all, and if so, how to go about it. However, these days already, and I
> would imagine especially in 60 years time, it is exceedingly hard for
> individuals to do ground-breaking research on their own. Megacorps and
> other organizations would be investing millions, if not billions, of nuyen
> in developing similar technology/magic/whatever, so what makes a player
> think a humble PC will develop where the corps have so far failed?
>

One of the good things about magic is that not all of the
innovations are introduced by a megacorp's research department; I
imagine these bullets being sold to the players by the infamous old man
in the disappearing trinket shop :) . This can also be done with any
other weird magic items you may want do dump on their heads.

By the way, I've done this with some shuriken (a set of four,
one of which is magical), and was looking for suggestions of bizarre
powers...

Bira -- SysOp da Shadowland.BR
http://members.xoom.com/slbr
http://www.terravista.pt/Nazare/2729
Redator de Shadowrun da RPG em Revista
http://www.rpgemrevista.cjb.net
ICQ#4055455

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